Understanding a disease is the first step toward treating it.
Ohio Northern University alumna Dr. Carla Kim, BS ’97, has dedicated her career to this vital work, helping the world to better understand lung health.
As a professor at Harvard Medical School and a principal investigator at Boston Children’s Hospital, Kim leads groundbreaking research through her Carla Kim Laboratory that is reshaping how we fight lung cancer and disease.
One of the defining breakthroughs in Kim’s lab is the development of organoids, three-dimensional cell cultures that mirror the complexity of an organ. By recreating structures like airways and alveolar sacs (where gas exchange occurs), these “mini-organs” allow researchers to observe lung behavior in ways not possible before.
“We can understand how the cell knows when there is a problem, how it replicates or regenerates, and how it develops more specialized cells when lung repairs are needed,” Kim said.
By using the cells from genetically engineered mice, for example, researchers can activate specific mutations, such as those found in lung cancer. “You can study the disease from the very beginning in a way you can’t in a human patient,” she explained.
Kim’s lab is now pioneering ways to grow these cells from fluid samples collected during medical procedures like surgery or bronchoscopy. “We’re really excited about being able to do that with a sample from a living patient,” she said.
The work is challenging and exciting, she adds. While it doesn’t always proceed from success to success, she views failure as part of the learning process.
“I tell my students most things don’t work, but number one, we’re here to learn and it’s hard to learn if you don’t fail,” she explains. “Usually that’s when you can ask yourself the question of why isn’t it working? It would be pretty boring if everything worked right away.”
Just as Kim mentors the next generation of research assistants, graduate and post-doctoral students who go on to careers in research, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, or academics, she traces her foundation back to her mentors at ONU.
Growing up in Fremont, Ohio, she’s grateful for her undergraduate years at ONU which turned her toward a research career and helped her develop leadership skills.
This spring, she returned to campus as the first alumna to deliver the prestigious Keiser Distinguished Lectureship. Her ONU connection is a family affair. Her husband, Charlie Kim, BSBA ’98, is a technology executive and entrepreneur and fellow Polar Bear.
Reflecting on her path, Kim says what keeps her going is the possibility of more discoveries that will eventually help people.
“It is exciting to be able to pursue what you’re interested in and see where it can go… to test ideas and figure out new things, and to train other people to see what they can learn and discover,” she said. “You really have to love this to keep doing it.”